I was recently interviewed by Jack Sweeney for his podcast series called CFO Thought Leader. This was the fourth time I was interviewed by Sweeney, and I enjoyed our conversation once again. I believe you will find the conversation interesting and relevant.

Here are some of the questions addressed in this podcast. (You can listen via the Youtube window on this page, you can download the file or find the iTunes link below)

How involved is the Board when hiring a CFO?

How can a CFO hire go wrong?

How can a CFO going through a hiring process work through the CEO/Board dynamics?

What advice do you offer CFO candidates before their first interview?

If a CFO hire is going to happen, what is the time frame to make it happen?

How do you help CFOs with executive coaching?

What advice would you give a CEO trying to evaluate a CFO candidate?

What part do part-time CFOs play in the market today?

When is the right time for a company to hire their first real CFO?

Who engages an executive search firm for a CFO hire?

What advice do you have for senior finance executives that want to build relationships outside their business?

If any of these topics are of interest to you, you will find this podcast to be worth listening to. (29 minutes)

Which comments resonate most with you? Let me know what you think below, or email me.

I was recently interviewed by Jack Sweeney for his podcast series called CFO Thought Leader. This was the fourth time I was interviewed by Sweeney, and I enjoyed our conversation once again. I believe you will find the conversation interesting and relevant.

Here are some of the things that were discussed. (You can listen via the Youtube window on this page, you can download the file or find the iTunes link below)

Are CFOs diligent enough in their due diligence prior to accepting a new CFO role?

The impact of tone from the top on CFOs.

The importance of CEO/CFO chemistry for a CFO job seeker.

How CFOs and CEOs can work together successfully.

What CFOs in the job wish they knew before they accepted the job.

The challenges of building the right Finance team as a new CFO.

If any of these topics are of interest to you, you will find this podcast to be worth listening to. (25 minutes)

Which comments resonate most with you? Let me know what you think below, or email me.

Here are some comments from my CFOs about their book reading preference:

I don’t read many books.

Gradually making shift to e-book. Reading my first now & getting comfortable!

Use my iPad for many magazines, but like to highlight books and prefer feel of holding book.

Are you trying to make me feel old? It worked.

I like to highlight, etc.

When I began my journey writing Guide to CFO Success two years ago, I had never read an e-book. As I was about to become an author and my book would be made available as an e-book, I felt it was important to understand what an e-book was all about, so I bought an Amazon Kindle. Today, reading an e-book on my tablet or phone is my preferred method of reading, but I enjoy the senses that come from reading and handling a real book.

As the holiday season approaches, consider an e-book as a gift for your favorite CFO. You can tell them that Samuel says they should try it out and join their forward looking peers that are making their way through the digital age.

(I won’t tell them that a main reason you bought them an e-book was because they are very easy to purchase as a last minute gift.)

Happy Thanksgiving,

Samuel

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As someone who creates content aimed at the CFO and other senior finance executives, understanding what Senior Financial Officers like to consume as content is important. There is a lot of different types of content out there. Traditional content creators like TV, newspapers and magazines are no longer the only providers of professionally oriented content. Professional services firms, associations and groups, software providers and anyone that wants to get the attention of a Chief Financial Officer is creating content to catch the attention of this Very Important Decision Maker.

When preparing to write my book, Guide to CFO Success, I created a CFO Advisor group to seek the opinions of senior finance executives and learn from their actual experiences. As part of my ongoing quest in providing fresh and relevant Finance oriented content, I reconstituted my CFO Advisor group so that we can all learn and grow.

I recently polled my CFO Advisors on their content habits, and will be sharing some of their insights over the coming weeks.

As you can see from the graph, about half of my CFOs do listen to podcasts, while 12% of them tune in to podcasts on a regular basis.

It is interesting to see that CFOs are beginning to take a shine to the podcast as a form of content delivery. To get a better understanding of the value CFOs are getting from podcasts, as well as the future of podcasting focusing on senior finance executives, I spoke with Jack Sweeney, host of CFO Thought Leader, a series of podcasts sharing firsthand lessons from leading Chief Financial Officers. I had the opportunity to be interviewed twice by Jack for his CFO Thought Leader podcasts, and appreciated his insights and questions, which led to the creation of valuable content of interest to the CFO.

“Like many people, my “content consuming” behavior has entered a period of great change. I find I’m adopting the ways of my teenagers (early adopters). We depend almost exclusively on our TV’,s DVR and we take an iPad on family trips so we can access Netflix anytime and anywhere. Meanwhile, I’ve begun to listen to the NPR podcast on weekends simply because I added the app to my iPhone.

I find that there is a noticeable shift in my behavior and meanwhile, from everything I’ve read I’m not alone. Why would the behavior of CFOs be any different? Clearly, it’s not, and while CFOs may be laggards when it comes to behavioral changes, they are without question changing their behaviors with the rest of us. Also, I’ll mention once again the car industry’s adoption of in-dash apps over the next few years will also quickly grow the podcast listening audience (CFOs included).” – Jack Sweeney

“The continued penetration of smartphones in America is changing behavior significantly. We are now seeing activities that were dominated by desktop usage in 2013, flip dramatically to become mobile behaviors. For millions of Americans, the smartphone has become ‘the first screen.’”

Podcasting is just one more distribution channel for content of interest to finance executives. Will CFOs choose podcasting as one of the major ways for them to consume relevant and interesting content as time goes on? Is podcasting a great way to get the attention of the busy CFO?

I was recently interviewed by Jack Sweeney for his podcast series called CFO Thought Leader. This was the second time I was interviewed by Sweeney, and I enjoyed the conversation. I believe you may find the conversation interesting and relevant.

Here are some of the things that were discussed. (You can find the listen to, download or find the iTunes link below)

Helping companies hire their next CFO with the correct chemistry for the company.

Key reasons a company needs to work with an executive search firm to hire their next CFO.

“Today’s CFO is all encompassing. CFOs have to be involved and responsible for everything. As CFO, you need to know what you can and cannot do. The importance of the complete finance team allows you to be as successful as possible.”

Private Equity firms and the influence they have over the placement of CFOs in mid-size market.

“The CFO is a significant part of the valuation of a company.”

The CFO career path – jumping to larger ship vs. niching down.

CFO Hiring – from within the same industry or outside the industry?

If any of these topics are of interest to you, you will find this podcast to be worth listening to. (23 minutes)

Which comments resonate most with you? Let me know what you think below, or privately by email.